Red Tash's Blog, page 258
November 1, 2011
This photo is about the polar opposite of our erstwhile Roller...
This photo is about the polar opposite of our erstwhile Roller Deb, but I couldn't resist it. Derby Ass is Magical, as the saying goes.
Edited about 11,900 words today, and re-worked formatting on a word doc that'd been man-handled across OpenOffice, Word, and Google Docs. Got through about twelve existing chapters. Minor line edits as I found them, but that wasn't the point, this time.
40/140 existing pages re-formatted. No new prose, so I'm not updating my Nanowrimo word count yet.
The Good: I figured out how to handle the footnotes in Troll or Derby. The Bad: There are footnotes in Troll or Derby.
Yes, MS word, "glamoured" is a word.
Notable lines:
I could hear their laughter, could smell their sweat and bloodlust mixed with the palpable passion of prurient teens.
As far as prophecies go…that all sounds a little magical-mystical-bullshistical to me, personally.
When a human is "laid-back," they're easy-going, cool, at least a little approachable, and somewhat friendly. When a troll is lying on his back, he's either dead, or playing dead, and about to strike you in your soft spot with a mace or a club.
Scene I'd forgotten about:
I skated to the square downtown, and stopped for a coke[1] on the front steps of the old Endris Drugstore. I was considering whether or not to try skating into their tiny public restroom for a break, when the bright red Mustang from earlier pulled in. Laurence Yoder again, no girlfriend in sight.
He leaned his head out the window, revving the engine and laughing, before killing it. "C'mere," he called.
"As if," I said.
I was afraid of him, to be honest—bigger than me, dumber than all, he relied on brute strength to make his way in the world. I knew I didn't have to answer him—I could have gone into Endris'—but for some reason I felt compelled to take it there.
"Why'd you throw the beer cans at me, Yoder?"
"Why do you skate across town like a fag?" he countered, smirking at his own joke.
"Girls aren't fags, idiot," I said. "Dykes, maybe. But not fags." I turned and climbed the stairs on my skates.
"Wait, wait," Yoder said. "I'm sorry. That was shitty of me." He lit a cigarette and leaned on the Mustang. "I actually think your skates are kind of cool."
I stared at him sideways. "Yeah. Sure you do. Later, Yoder."
He reached into the driver's window and lay on the car horn.
"C'mon! Go for a ride!" he yelled.
I shook my head and went into the store[2]. The cashier glared at me. "Tell your boyfriend to lay off the horn, would ya?" she said. I nodded, grateful that she hadn't had an allergic reaction to my skates[3].
[1] Mr. Pibb
[2] Even now, I have never encountered anything as weird as a small-town Indiana teenage boy.
[3] Sometimes, I swear to God, you'd think that no one over the age of 40 had had a day of fun in their whole lives.
NOTE TO SELF: THINK ABOUT COVER ART FOR THIS BAD BOY.
Like a scene out of the forthcoming Troll or Derby.
I'll...
Like a scene out of the forthcoming Troll or Derby.
I'll be finishing it in November, as part of Nanowrimo. Do photos inspire you? Or do you see things, and realize they evoke memories of a time or place?
This is part of my writing process. When I was drafting This Brilliant Darkness, I amassed a ridiculous (and I do mean ridiculous) amount of paper and other assorted things—photos, books, epherma—that I collected and looked through again while I was editing.
Nuts.
But it works for me.
So, here you ago. A piece out of the headspace from which Troll or Derby is a-coming.
October 31, 2011
Wow, I can't believe the CoffinHop is over already....
Wow, I can't believe the CoffinHop is over already. It's been so great to meet all of you! You've given me laughs as well as scares (which is how I like my horror, how about you?) When I signed up to do this, I thought "Well, just this once, I guess," but now I seriously am looking forward to next year!
So don't be a stranger. Keep in touch, okay?
In response to the great, well, response you gave my comic strips this past week, I'll be doing online strips again for the first time in years. Every Monday is my plan. Here's one I wrote for the Coffin Hop crew, today.
If you missed out on the wackiness, I made a page about my contributions to the madness, and it is here.
Now, as the witching hour approaches…on to Nanowrimo!
Happy Halloween to all, and to all a good night…
It's the...
Happy Halloween to all, and to all a good night…
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown c.1966
Coffin Hop will soon be a memory…
Request your All Hallow's Read Treat before you scramble out there to your most-sincere pumpkin patch, will you?
Coffin Hop Costume Parade!
I don't know what the hell is...
Coffin Hop Costume Parade!
I don't know what the hell is happening in this photo, and it scares me, in all seriousness.
Take your mind off of it, with a free book in the mail from Auntie Red. Last CoffinHop prize, and it's All Hallow's Read!
Coffin Hop Costume...
Coffin Hop Costume Parade!
Halloween-1965
Possibly the scariest crowd I've *ever* seen. I am loving these vintage costume photos, though, aren't you?
Coffin Hop Costume Parade!
I yam what I yam. And I yam giving...
Coffin Hop Costume Parade!
I yam what I yam. And I yam giving away free books today as part of the Coffin Hop and All Hallow's Read.
